A woman is wailing
‘A woman is wailing’
if we see-
this is such an ordinary line
as saying
someone is sleeping
someone is going out for morning walk
as someone is eating food,
and the woman is wailing.
Don’t know why, it seems to me
is it not possible…
if I write,
woman is wailing
the ink of my pen desiccate immediately
the very moment the camera captures such pictures
it’s lens gets ruptured
or the bristles of the painter’s brush shed down
notes get stuck in the vocal cords of the singer;
how amazing
nothing is happening that way.
From the inception of mankind
woman is incessantly wailing
just like Earth is revolving.
She is bathing and weeping,
hiccupping and toasting the bread,
she just now ties the waistband single handedly
and with other
wipes the tears that roll down her lips,
by pressing the lower lip with full force
she completes the laid down prayer of God.
As the grounds appear desolate
after the gypsies abandon them
as there is no milk let down
despite healthy filled udder of cow
as desires engulf themselves in the insouciance
as the graveyard becomes scary after the last hour’s toll of night
this immortal wailing
has the same truth.
By which hope…
does a woman wail in all the hustle bustle of the world.
When a woman wails,
trees cease to be fruitful
beaks of the birds parch
sailors flip over their boats forever
scream rises and reaches till last poles
And after that
shadows forget to be stubborn,
just think
can things happen this way…
Poet: Manoj Sharma (Hindi)
Translated by: Kumar Krishan Sharma
